Burglar-alabm



M. L. POWELL.

Burglar Alarm.

No. 32,891. Patented July 23,1861.

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BURGLAR-ALARM.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN L. POWELL, of Newcastle, in the county of Henry and State of Indiana, have invented a new and Improved Burglar-Proof Attachment to Bedrooms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the tilting bedstead, the line :0, m, Fig. 1, indicating the plane of section. Fig. 3 is an inverted plan of the same.

Similar letters of reference in the three views indicate corresponding parts.

This invention consists in so connecting the door and window or windows of a bed room by means of a cord or other suitable device with a tilting bed-stead, that any attempt to open the door or raise the window will throw the bed and cause the occupant of the same to roll out and to be aroused from his sleep: also in applying to the cord which connects the door and window or windows with the tilting bedstead, a weight in such a manner that whenever the cord should be cut the bedstead is thrown by the action of the weight and the attempt to enter the room stealthily and without the knowledge of the occupant of the bed is frustrated.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation with reference to the drawing.

The frame A, which represents the bottom of the bedstead B is secured to the end pieces (3 by means of pivots a projecting from its ends at points near to one of its sides in such a manner that said frame has a tendency to turn down on that side which faces the room D in which the bed is situ ated. The frame A is retained in a horizontal position by lever E which is secured to the under side of the heavy end of said frame by means of a pivot 7), being guided and steadied by staples 0' as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing, and which when turned to a position parallel with the sides of said frame catches over angular lugs e that are secured to the end pieces of said frame. If brought in this position, the end of the lever E bears against the edge of the vertical arm d, of a bell crank lever 1 may (Z, c, which is secured to one of the end pieces 0 of the bedstead by means of a pivot f, and the long arm of which is loaded with a weight g, sufiiciently heavy to depress the long arm of the bell crank lever (Z, c, and

to turn the lever E so that it passes out of the angular lugs 0, and allows the frame A to follow its gravity and to turn down on its heavy side.

The weighted end of the bell crank lever (Z, c is held up by a hook it, which catches over the end of a short two armed lever F, which is fulcrated on a pivot i (see Fig. 1) and which is retained in a horizontal position by a dog G that is secured to the end piece or post of the bedstead by a pivot This dog connects by a cord with the door H and with the window or windows I of the room, in which the bedstead is situated and the course of said cord will be clearly understood from Fig. l of the drawing. From the dog it passes over the hollow standard J and through the loop Z, in the floor to the loop or loops m in the window or windows and from said loop or loops through the loop a in the door to a loop 0 in the floor. From that part of the cord, which passes over the hollow standard J, a weight K is suspended.

The operation is as follows e-VVhen the occupant of the room is ready to go to bed, he fastens the cord 70 in the manner described and he now lays down and sleeps in perfect peace. If an attempt is made to open the door or to raise the window, the strain exerted on the cord 70 disengages the hinged dog G from the end of the two armed lever F and the weighted end of the bell crank lever (Z c sinks down thereby pushing the ends of the lever E out of the lugs o and allowing the frame A to tilt. The occupant of the bed is thereby caused to roll out upon the floor, and unless his sleep is very sound indeed, he will certainly be aroused, and the attempt to enter the room stealthily and without his knowledge is frustrated. If the .person who attempts to enter the room should succeed in cutting the cord, the weight K in the interior of the hollow standard J drops down and disengages the dog G and the frame A is tilted. If the occupant of the bed wishes to be aroused at a certain hour of the night, he can attach the cord to a clock or the cord be run out of the window, so that a the hinged dog G which retains the tilting frame A of the bedstead substantially as and for the purpose shown and described.

2. The arrangement of the weight K in 13 combination with the cord is as and for the purpose specified.

M. L. POWELL.

Witnesses S. S. OANNADAY, J. M. MOORE. 

